Fact check: what they say about Skripale’s poisoning on Russian TV, and how true it is

The poisoning of the Skripals is one of the main topics discussed on Russian television. Despite the fact that the British authorities tell journalists about the progress of the investigation, participants in Russian talk shows complain about the information vacuum and seriously distort the established facts.

Photo: TV Center

BBC Russian Service I watched several episodes of the talk shows “Let Them Talk” and “60 Minutes” and decided to answer the most frequently asked questions from TV show guests.

Statement: Perhaps Julia and Sergey Skripalov were never hunted by anyone. After all, if they were poisoned, why nobody saw them? When Litvinenko was poisoned, the next day his picture appeared in the hospital!

• “So were Yulia and Sergei Skripal poisoned at all? If this is all a hoax, what will those behind it do now?” (host of the “Let Them Talk” program Dmitry Borisov, Special issue dated April 9.04.2018, XNUMX).
• “Nobody knows the name of this policeman... We don’t know whether there was a boy, whether there was a policeman, or Theresa May invented him” (journalist Andrei Karaulov in the “Let Them Talk” program, April 4.04.2018, XNUMX).
• “Only questions arise. There are no answers. One of the first questions I asked when all this became known was, was there really an assassination attempt? Are they really in a hospital in London? Are they really dying? No one has seen a single photograph of them, no one has seen any conclusions. That is, we cannot be sure that they are not in Argentina on the beach!” (RT journalist Alexander Gurnov in the “Let Them Talk” program, Special issue dated 9.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).
• “With Litvinenko, we were shown a sick man in the ward the next day. Here they haven’t been shown to us for a month, instead we have a phone call” (RT journalist Alexander Gurnov in the “Let Them Talk” program, Special Issue dated April 9.04.2018, XNUMX).

Fact Check: There are witnesses to the poisoning of the Skripals - these are passers-by who found unconscious people on a bench in the center of Salisbury.

It is known that one of the first Skripale noticed an employee of the fitness center Freya Church. In addition, it was reported about other witnesses who saw Sergei and Yulia, gave them first aid and called the doctors. The lack of photographs of Sergey and Yulia from the hospital is explained by their right to privacy and medical secrecy.

The name of the injured police officer is known as Sergeant Nick Bailey. It is known that he is 38 years old; his photograph was published on the website of the Wiltshire County Police, where Salisbury is located. Bailey was one of the first people to help, he was hospitalized and spent several days in the hospital.

Former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, poisoned with radioactive polonium in 2006, was actually photographed at the hospital. The circumstances of the appearance of this photo are well known, they are described in the results of the public inquiry on the Litvinenko case.

The document shows that the photo was taken on November 21 - that is, four days after he was transferred to University College London Hospital and two days before his death. By that time, Litvinenko’s hair had already fallen out, it was clear that he most likely would not survive; on the same day that his photograph was taken, he dictated a statement to be published in the event of his death.

The idea to take a photo belonged to Litvinenko’s friend Alexander Goldfarb. Litvinenko supported her because he wanted to maximize the publicity of his poisoning. His wife and a lawyer also knew that the press would be given a photo in the hospital ward. The photographer was found with the help of Lord Bell's PR agency, who collaborated with oligarch Boris Berezovsky.

Statement: Theresa May said the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok gas. There is no such gas!

• "Such gas, as "Newbie"," No. It does not exist. This is a whole group. And there is A-234 gas, correct me if I’m wrong. Why do we follow the lead of a respected lady posing as the iron Margaret Thatcher, whose last name is Theresa May, and call it “Newbie”? There’s no need to play along with her!” (Deputy editor-in-chief of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, laureate of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Nikolai Dolgopolov in the “Let Them Talk” program, Special issue dated April 9.04.2018, XNUMX).

Fact Check: In fact, British Prime Minister Theresa May's statement made no mention of the Skripals being poisoned with Novichok gas. Speaking to Parliament on March 12, May used the following language: “It is clear that Mr Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of the type being developed in Russia. It belongs to a group of nerve agents known as Novichok.

Thus, May did not claim that Novichok was the name of a specific chemical agent, nor did she say that the substance was used against the Skripals in gaseous form.

Statement: Poisoning occurred right on the park bench. The poison acted immediately.

• “The policeman was not poisoned in the house, but on a bench. He poisoned himself when he approached them [the Skripals]” (military historian Yuri Knutov in the “Let Them Talk” program, April 4.04.2018, XNUMX).

Fact Check: This is not true. In fact, the poisoning occurred at the house of Sergei Skripal. According to the senior national coordinator of the counterterrorist police unit, Dean Heydon, contact with a poisonous substance occurred near the entrance door.

Statement: The police are standing next to this bench without any protection - which means there is no danger, and the chemical protective suits are staged.

• “A very good word was used here - directing. <…> We can say some obvious things, but speculate on others. Look at the footage [shot in Salisbury]. It feels like the police are cordoning off the street while they're filming a movie. Some people, almost in spacesuits with the highest degree of protection, are exploring the street. At the same time, the police are standing a few meters away from them without any protection. Well, this is absurd!” (leader of the “For Real Deeds” and “Officers of Russia” movements Anton Tsvetkov in the “Let Them Talk” program, Special Issue dated 9.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).

Fact Check: Indeed, police officers standing in a cordon around a bench, a pub and a restaurant do not have chemical protection suits or protective masks.

However, they stand in a cordon at a relatively large (from 3 to 10 meters) distance from potentially infected objects. A toxic agent applied against Scripals is dangerous only through direct contact: for example, if it is inhaled through the skin or through the respiratory tract.

The British Ministry of Health also stated that residents and guests of Salisbury is not in danger.

Statement: Britain determined within three hours that the Skripals were poisoned with Novichok.

• “How was it possible to determine within three hours what these people were poisoned with?” (President of the Russian Union of Chemists, former Minister of Chemical Industry of the USSR Viktor Ivanov in the program “Let them talk”, Special issue dated 9.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).

Fact Check: The exact time it took the British side to determine the type of substance is unknown.

Sergey and Julia Skripal were discovered on a bench in the center of Salisbury at 4 hours of the afternoon on Sunday, March 4. Only 8 in March, Scotland Yard reported that the British authorities know what kind of substance in question.

Apparently, already in the first hours after Skripale’s hospitalization, it was known that the poison used was quite dangerous: the first specialists in chemical protection suits at the bench, where Skripaley was found, appeared late on Sunday. Their photo the next day published a local edition. Salisbury journal.

Statement: If Novichok is so poisonous, why did the Skripals survive?

• “Well, if it was the substance that everyone was shouting about here and that everyone was waving, well, Sorry guys, what good consequences can we talk about after this substance?” (Victoria Skripal in the “Let Them Talk” program, Special issue dated 9.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).

Fact Check: It is difficult to answer this question, because it is still not known where and by whom exactly the toxic substance was synthesized.

Scientists who participated in the creation of Novichok noted in their interviews that if prepared incorrectly, the substance can be less toxic than the samples that were obtained during the development of Novichok in the late USSR (for example, he spoke about this in an interview with RIA Novosti Leonid Rink).

Security and chemical specialist Dan Caceta writes in his article for Politics.co.ukthat for him the salvation of Sergey and Julia Skripal does not look unexpected.

An expert who has worked for more than 20 years in the US special services in the field of chemical protection explains that the degree of danger of nerve agents is established in the laboratory. When such tests do not take into account the factors of first aid to victims, the possible cleaning of the affected surface from infection, various external factors, etc. That is why in the real world during chemical attacks, the number of infected, but the survivors, is always greater than the number of the dead, explains Kaseta.

Scientists actually said that there is no antidote against “newcomers.” However, this just means that there is no specific substance that would completely neutralize the effect of the toxin. In the absence of such an antidote, victims can still be provided with supportive care and try to minimize the consequences of the harm caused by the poison.

This is quite possible, since the principle of action of nerve agents on the human body is well known: they reduce the activity of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, resulting in an excess of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is necessary for the transmission of neuromuscular signals.

In such cases, doctors can use atropine - it can be used to restore the normal amount of the enzyme. Atropine is used in other cases, so it is not difficult to find in a regular hospital.

Judging by a statement from the hospital in Salisbury, where the Skripals were treated, this is exactly what the doctors did. “We used several different medications to support patients until their bodies produced new enzymes to replace those damaged by poisoning,” the statement said.

Scientist Vil Mirzayanov, who participated in the creation of Novichok, confirms that the effect of the toxic substance can be stopped with the help of atropine.

Statement: Western journalists “act according to instructions.”

In one of the episodes of the “Let Them Talk” program, a journalist Channel 4 Alex Thomson, on the phone, asked Viktoria Skripal if she thought that the Kremlin was using her in the information war. After that, the guests at the studio accused Thompson of asking a biased question to Victoria Scripal and asking him counter questions to evaluate the actions of the British authorities who refused to grant Victoria a visa in the visa. When the journalist refused to answer these questions, the guests of the program stated that Thomson had been instructed before participating in the program.

• “We all have a lot of questions. He (Channel 4 journalist Alex Thomson) has no questions. He called here with one sole purpose - to utter the words: “She is an agent of the Kremlin.” She [he] is not interested in the answer either. This is another small drop in the flow of the information war that is being waged” (RT journalist Alexander Gurnov in the “Let Them Talk” program, Special issue dated 9.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).
• “I cannot answer your question, because the question I wanted to ask, I have already asked and received an answer,” this is usually said by those who received instructions before holding any event and then behave within the framework of this instruction "(adviser to the director of the Russian Guard Alexander Khinshtein in the program “Let them talk”, Special issue dated 9.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).
• “This entire system is absolutely clearly controlled by a single organism. The corresponding recommendations have already been given to the first top of the British media, and they ran to fulfill this order. Point" (deputy Andrei Lugovoi, whom Britain accuses of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, in the program "Let Them Talk", 4.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).

Fact Check: In the press service Channel 4 The Russian service of the BBC was informed that Thomson had discussed his question to Victoria Skripal along with the editor of his program. Victoria's answer Scripal entered the Thomson story, released on the channel Channel 4.

Representative Channel 4 also talked about how the British journalist ended up in the “Let Them Talk” program.

“A person claiming to be a representative of Victoria Skripal invited Alex Thomson to participate in a press conference [with her participation]. They agreed that Channel 4 will ask her a question on Skype. A few hours later from Channel 4 A representative of Russian state television contacted and asked which correspondent he was talking about. At that moment, Alex Thomson realized that this was not a press conference, but a talk show on state TV,” they said on Channel 4.

Photo: video frame

Statement: Yulia Skripal has already refused to talk to Russian journalists, but she is going to give a press conference soon. On it, she, of course, accused of poisoning Russia.

• “As the BBC reports today, Yulia Skripal will give a press conference in the very near future. Events are unfolding rapidly. At a press conference, she, Yulia Skripal, is unlikely to blame London for everything. Something tells us—apparently it’s her heart—that she will blame us” (host of the program “60 Minutes in Hot Pursuit” Olga Skabeeva, 10.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).
• “The doctor said that Yulia Skripal would not like to meet with Russian journalists or Russian representatives. We can hope as much as we want that this is all by force, she is forced, tortured and tormented, but the press conference is about to begin, and as soon as it starts, everything will immediately fall into place" (host of the program "60 Minutes on “hot on our heels” Olga Skabeeva, 10.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).
• "The other day she, presumably, according to the BBC, she intends to make a statement at a press conference” (host of the “60 Minutes in Hot Pursuit” program Evgeniy Popov, 11.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).

Fact Check: Yulia Skripal refused to communicate with all journalists - both Russian and Western. Skripal did not intend to hold a press conference, and the BBC did not report this press conference.

Statement: The animals of Skripale were killed and burned right after the Investigative Committee became interested in their fate. The British will demolish both the pub, and the restaurant, and the house of Skripal. Obviously, this is an attempt to destroy evidence.

• “Here I remembered an old one, and, frankly speaking, a little-known story that happened, let's say, in the early 80s with some employees of the then Soviet embassy, ​​who worked, let's say, somewhere near the place where the described events take place [in Salisbury]. Several people disappeared without a trace. They were apparently suspected of working for some kind of intelligence service. Perhaps even ours. Do you know what was the most tragic thing in this story? The fact that these people were found dead and with their insides cut out. <…> [By their organs] it was possible to determine the substance with which these people were destroyed. And if it were possible to identify the substance, as the British are now trying to do, it would be possible to determine who exactly did it. This is a very important question: the poor and unfortunate rabbits and pigs, cats have disappeared. But this is not just such a thing. This, I would say, using the investigators’ language, is the deliberate destruction of material evidence” (deputy editor-in-chief of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, winner of the SVR award Nikolai Dolgopolov in the “Let Them Talk” program, Special issue dated 9.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).
• “As soon as I said, as soon as our Investigative Committee sent a note through the embassy: “Where are the animals?”, this immediately arises —“The animals are burned” (Victoria Skripal in the “Let Them Talk” program, Special issue dated 9.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).
• “If you believe the Daily Mail, Skripal’s house will be demolished, the fence will be demolished, the restaurant will be demolished, if only, as it seems to us, no evidence is found” (host of the program “60 Minutes in Hot Pursuit” Olga Skabeeva, 9.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).
• “The bottom line is. Russia will be to blame, because the house will cease to exist, the Skripals will cease to exist as Skripals, they will be given new names, if this is an American witness protection program, then we will never see them again. Never at all” (host of the program “60 Minutes in Hot Pursuit” Evgeniy Popov, 9.04.2018/XNUMX/XNUMX).

Fact Check: The Russian service BBC wrote in detail about how Sergey Skripal's pets were at the center of a diplomatic scandal.

Indeed, the British authorities reported the fate of the cat and guinea pigs only after the Russian embassy contacted the British Foreign Office. The British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Development said that by the time the veterinarian got to Skripal's house, the guinea pigs had already died from dehydration, and the cat was in extremely distressed condition. “The veterinarian decided to euthanize the animal to alleviate its suffering,” the statement said.

The message that the house of Skrypal, as well as the restaurant and pub, can be demolished, was published in the newspaper Daily Mail with reference to unnamed sources.

The newspaper claimed that the buildings could be demolished due to the fact that this is much easier than looking for traces of Novichok in them and disinfecting the premises. Official sources have not made any statements about the fate of the buildings.

The Russian service of the BBC was unable to confirm this information either in the police or in the Ministry of the Environment. They clarified that currently in the house of Skripal and in other buildings investigative actions are continuing; after the police have finished investigating these premises, specialists will begin work on their decontamination.

In Russian talk shows they often speak of the British side’s intention to destroy evidence. However, in fact, in British official sources there are references to the fact that the police actively collects and stores material evidence.

For example, it was reported that during the investigation, more than 1350 evidence was collected, more than five thousand hours of recordings from surveillance cameras were seized, 500 witnesses were identified and several hundred people have already been interviewed. Among other things, the police, for example, reported that the bench on which Skripale was found was removed from the park precisely in order to preserve it as potential physical evidence in this investigation.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Julia Skripal’s second statement: refusal of the services of the Russian Embassy and unwillingness to see her sister

Yulia Skripal was discharged from the hospital and transported to a “safe place”

Fiddle House want to demolish and enclose a place with a three-meter fence

Scripalee's relative believes that it is dangerous for them to enter the USA

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